Week 3 - Spring Low Carb Bootcamp - To B or to BC, that is the question!

[BIWI]

Morning all

Here's the Spreadsheet

I see from the last thread that some of you have already weighed in - well done to those who've lost and commiserations with those of you who haven't.

We now enter week 3, which is notorious (along with week 4) for being a bit of a bugger of a week

At this point, you'll see weight loss slow, stop or even reverse. It's a very, very common thing. So if this happens to you, don't panic - it's perfectly normal. Your body is adjusting, and weight loss will resume again, assuming that you keep on keeping on.

You can now choose whether or not you want to move on to Bootcamp Light, which allows a bit of fruit, some nuts/seeds and alcohol - all in moderation of course!

If you prefer, and if it's suiting you, you can stay on Bootcamp - or you could do a mix of both. So Bootcamp during the week and Bootcamp Light at the weekend. Up to you.

Good luck whichever approach you take

Anybody bought the Tom Kerridge Dopamine Diet cookbook? I've tried the moussaka and it was delicious and comes in at 19 carbs per portion and they're big portions

Morning :)

I have yet another team lunch today but I've checked the menu and gone for an avocado salad: avocado, roasted peppers (I'll leave most of these), pine nuts, pumpkin seeds and olive oil according to the menu.

Having cauliflower cheese for dinner so it should work out ok.

I had a sneaky weigh in this morning, -5lbs

If that stays until Monday, I'll have lost a stone in 3 weeks

Just watched the LCHF talk over breakfast. Very interesting, thanks Hesdeadjim and congratulations on the loss, fantastic.

What is the policy on artificial sweetners?
I am wondering if my addiction to sugar-free mints is stalling my weightloss. I am otherwise following the LCHF completely. I am finding 3.5 litres of fluid hard to achieve. I must confess to following a 16.8 pattern if eating as well.

I am mid-60s and have lost around 2.7 stones in the last 18 months but hoped to take off at least another stone but seem to be having difficulty as on BC I have managed about 4lbs in 2 weeks but this morning was 1lb up.

Well done Hesdeadjim

Sausage I am so sorry

Not sure about artificial sweeteners. I suspect they are bad but I am having a cold can on Sprite Zero some evenings instead of wine and it feels like such a treat.

Unexpected day off today. Mad dash to use up annual leave so I promised I will pick DCs up and take them for waffles.

B: whipped double cream and blackberries
L: Halloumi and Roast veg salad
D: homemade beef rogan josh.

KOKO

I think there's some evidence that artificial sweeteners have a similar insulin-promoting effect as sugar, in some people.

Having said that, today I'm feeling tempted to buy a bag of sugar-free sweets for the, ahem, laxative effect and damn the consequences!

Might need to change your user name to shesshrinkingJim hesdeadJim

limberlost two pounds a week is good. Earlier in the thread (or maybe at the end of last week) Stuntnun posted a graph of her weight loss last year. Lots of small increases but an overall steady loss over a period of time. Also week three and four are notorious for stalling.
BIWI advises against artificial sweeteners.

sausage so sorry about your mum

Re the Tom kerridge book, I've recently bought it and salivated over so many of the recipes. I haven't actually cooked any yet but plan to rectify that during the coming week (the BC friendly recipes anyway).

When reading it, I did think that you could reduce the carb counts further by using shallots instead of onions, and some other spice / flavouring instead of the onion powder (which I can never bloody find anywhere anyway). Plus leaving out the honey in some of the recipes etc.

I cannot wait to try the creme brûlée when I'm in ''maintenance" mode (or when desperate and need to stay on track somehow!), as that is one of the few puddings I like and it will be so nice to have it as a treat and basically be able to LC permanently whilst never feeling deprived of anything I would actually want to eat apart from crisps

Food plan for today:

B - coffee with a dash of cream
L - left over pork belly, raw sauerkraut, cucumber and tarragon mayo
D - the diet doctor stuffed cabbage recipe that someone recommended a while back, (with sour cream) it is divine although I do add one tin of chopped toms for the whole recipe, as i found it needed a bit of the freshness / tang from this

Not yet sure whether I'll have a glass of wine with dinner. Drinking wine is one of the pleasures in life for me, hence it is the thing I find hardest to reduce / stop. But I definitely drink less than I used to! I don't drink during the week (or during BC, through gritted teeth) but do enjoy a glass or two each weekend day. Which clearly includes Friday of course.

Hope you are all having a great LC, post-Doris day.

I certainly don't have a constipation problem with my mint consumption.

Thank you I must've patient. I agree, there are ways of reducing the carbs and some certainly are quite carb heavy. Some of the puddings look lovely, but am keeping away from these at the moment.

Good day food wise so far

B: coffee with cream
L: prawn and smoked salmon salad with mayo
D: small portion of leftover moussaka and salad

Sorry imust, predictive text

I can't find the study on my phone but there was a comparison between two groups of women who swapped soda for either diet soda or water. The water group lost more weight than the diet soda group. I'll have another look for it because there were other interesting changes as well. If I recall correctly the water group became more insulin sensitive than the diet soda group. It did lend credence to the theory that artificial sweeteners can impede weight loss.

Thank you, everyone. I will try harder to resist the mints!

Went for my team lunch, had the avocado salad and it was lush, but I only finished half of it because it was massive and I got full. This has never happened before

@Ronniesleaddress and @limberlost Please read Bootcamp rules!

Artificial sweeteners are not advised. There are three reasons for this:

1. We're aiming to eat as natural and unprocessed a diet as we can
2. We're trying to break the hold that sweet things have over us

and

1. There is some suggestion that the body can treat artificial sweeteners as if they were sugar

They're definitely not allowed in the first two weeks of Bootcamp; in moderation on Bootcamp Light they're OK if you have to

Also, @limberlost, if you're in week 3 then it's often the case that you can see a slow down in weight loss, or even a gain.

So if you're using artificial sweeteners, and not drinking all your water AND you're in week 3, this is probably why!

I made a new discovery today - mixing crunchy peanut butter into my yoghurt, along with half a teaspoon of vanilla bean paste. A lovely combination of salty and a bit of sweet.

Sainsbury's crunchy peanut butter is only 6g carbs per 100g, and you don't need much of it to add a good taste.

I swerved a complete 'fuck it' moment today; I have the afternoon off, and on the way home at lunchtime very nearly bought myself a sandwich - on the basis that the rest of the week has been so shit, why not?

But I held firm, came home and made myself a cheese omelette instead!

Well done BIWI

Insomnia's making me a bit of a zombie right now. Not great for my mood and will power. DH wants a take away tonight, but I can't face the idea of a kebab, so planning to cook for myself, while staring longingly at his stodge. Hmph.

On a plus side, gym has been a bit easier the past couple of times.

B: feta omelette
L: tuna salad and a bowl of greek yoghurt with vanilla
S: a couple of maasdam slices
D: probably cauliflower cheese

I feel your pain @BursarsFrogs

I see your insomnia and I raise you insomnia + snoring DH

Ouch BIWI. Mine grinds his bloody teeth. Well done resisting the sandwich though. I'll resist the take away, too. Sigh.

Definitely going to try the peanut butter and vanilla yogurt. It sounds right up my street.

BIWI your Yoghurt thing is similar to something I do, with the yoghurt and peanut butter and then I add a small handful of blueberries and then sprinkle it all with cinnamon. It is really yum and fresh tasting. I'm definitely going to try your version with vanilla which will keep the carbs even lower.

I did once make some truffle-type thing by mixing yoghurt, peanut butter and (I think) cocoa, which was also nice and also very filling.